Dragon Ball: Movie 2
by S-Shield
Summary: Revenge of the Red Ribbon Army! The sequel to my Dragonball "live action" movie. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

_This story is a sequel to my Dragon Ball Movie. You might want to read that one first. If you already have, or don't care, then please continue and enjoy! _

Chapter 1

Piccolo's hand reached out to touch the image that had been carved onto the side of the rock. It depicted a being physically similar to himself, green skinned and bald headed, surrounded by seven flaming orbs that encircled his head like a halo. Above that, a stylized crest which resembled a dragon, its body twisting around upon itself, presided over all.

"I'm getting closer," Piccolo mumbled to himself.

He turned and looked at the rest of the deep crater in which he stood; its entire bowl-shaped body was smooth and reflective. Above him lay the harsh, unforgiving wasteland where his father, the Demon King, had fallen to Earth years ago. The intense heat from that impact fusing the sand in the ground, turning it to glass.

Yet someone had still managed to carve the mysterious image into the glass wall, someone who knew the importance of this place, and its connection to the Dragon Balls. Presumably, someone with all the answers. But who?

Piccolo's ruminations were suddenly interrupted by a whistling sound heard overhead. The young demon leapt into the air as a missile shot past him and detonated in the center of the crater, cracking the glass and ruining the carving.

Enraged and confused, Piccolo rose higher into the sky and out of the deep crevice. It was then he came face to face with his attackers. Completely surrounding him were tanks and mechanical suits of armor. Overhead, fighter jets flew past, cutting off his escape from the air.

The one trait common to every attacker was the RR symbol, stamped or embossed somewhere on their metallic hide. Clearly, Piccolo thought, the Red Ribbon Army had returned, and they were out for revenge.

"Back for more, eh?" he called out.

A loud voice answered, being enhanced via speakers.

"You and your kind attacked us," the clearly weak voice announced. "You miserable demons, you stole our technology and left us for dead! You brought this on yourself!"

Piccolo looked around at the soldiers, and he wondered if the Red Ribbon leaders knew that they were sending their men to their deaths.

Several of the mobile suits leapt at him, engaging their booster rockets. Piccolo tried to maneuver out of the way, but a tank behind him took a shot. His attempts to dodge left him open and the mobile suits collided with him, dragging them all to the edge of the crater.

Piccolo fought back, erupting from the pile with a savage roar. His clothes in tattered, Piccolo removed his shredded cape, dropping it to the ground with a resounding thud.

"Now let's see you try that without the extra hundred pounds strapped to my back!" he sneered and launched himself at the advancing army.

Piccolo tore through several of the armored soldiers, using their bodies as shields when the planes overhead opened fire.

One of the tanks blasted another missile at him, and the demon grabbed it with both hands and redirected it up at the nearest plane. The fiery wreckage crashed into a whole section of the army.

Throwing himself into the thickest part of the group, Piccolo ripped apart as many attackers as his could.

Tearing open the side of one of the tanks, however, yielded a chilling discovery, a small light blinking on the side of a bomb. Whipping around, Piccolo saw several of these lights going off all around him.

Piccolo almost chucked in spite of himself. At least now he had his answer. Clearly the Red Ribbon knew they were sending these men to their death. In fact, they were counting on it.

A gaunt and crippled form watched the explosion on a viewing screen. Had he the ability, he might have smiled.

"Enemy One, neutralized," Commander Red confirmed, to no one other than himself.

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Bulma angled the airplane towards Roshi's island as she began her landing. She smiled at the tiny little speck of land, which contained an even smaller house. From the air, she could see two people waving up at her from the beach below.

She landed and climbed out of the plane, hollering, "I brought supplies!"

"Bulma!" Krillin shouted as he ran up to her, his bald head shining in the morning sun.

"Hey, kid. How've you been?"

"Great," the young man said, helping her down to the ground. The pair walked over to old man Roshi, his eyes smiling brightly even through his sunglasses.

"Hello, my dear. What a pleasant surprise," he opened his arms, motioning for a hug.

"Watch it, old man," Bulma warned, "I don't want to have to clock you."

Roshi took a step back. "Well, it's still nice to see a pretty young face around her. Usually all I get to look at are a bunch of sweaty guys."

"Speaking of which," Bulma asked, looking around, "Where's Goku?"

"He's out fishing," Krillin answered.

Just then, an enormous shark burst through the ocean's surface. And on the sharks back, attempting to wrestle the beast into submission, sat a screaming and thoroughly happy looking Goku.

The monstrous pair sank back into the sea.

"Well," Bulma turned back, not phased in the least, "what have you guys been up to?"

"Just training," Roshi answered, "same as ever, these last three years."

"You just can't get rid of them, huh?" Bulma smiled, winking at Krillin.

Goku emerged from the water, carrying the body of the dead shark over his head with one hand.

"I got one!" he yelled, throwing his prize onto the ground.

"Same as ever," Bulma laughed.

"Bulma!" Goku shouted as he ran to the girl, jumping into her arms.

"Ah, you're all wet and cold from the water!"

"Hehehe," Goku dropped back to the ground. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, actually," she said, reaching into her pocket, "I've got a little gift for you."

She pulled out a small round device and showed it to Goku.

"The Dragon Radar!" he shouted.

"Yep, good as new. I actually built it a few years ago, but the darn thing never worked. Since I didn't have a Dragonball test it on, I figured I just messed up. But the other day I was playing with it, and suddenly all the balls showed up on the screen, like magic."

"I could have told you that," Roshi said. "It actually takes time for the Dragonballs to recharge after you've asked the Dragon to grant your wish. They would have just been normal stones until recently."

"I wish you'd said something earlier, I was beginning to doubt my own brilliance," Bulma said. "I can't believe it's only been three years since we battled the Demon King to get our hands on the Dragonballs. It seems like a lifetime ago."

"But this means we can go hunting for Dragonballs again!" Goku yelled, "Just like old times!"

"Alright!" Krillin jumped for joy as well.

"Um, actually guys," Bulma said, looking down at her feet, "This one's all on you. I'm not coming this time."

"What, why?" Goku asked.

"Well, you see, I'm all grown up now. I'm finishing college soon, and then I'll have to go work for my dad at Capsule Corp. He wants me to take over the company. I don't really have time for adventure anymore. I'm sorry."

The boys all looked at her with sadness in their eyes.

"But, hey," she said, trying to lighten the mood, "don't let that get you down. I know you'll have fun." She tossed Goku the radar and headed back towards the plane.

"Now help me unload all this food, already!" she yelled back.

A little while later, the three guys stood watching Bulma's plane recede into the distance.

"Well," Goku announced, "No point in standing around." He ran into the house and a moment later emerged wearing the orange suit Roshi had given him, with the Turtle Hermit's symbol sewed into the back, partially covered by his grandpa Gohan's fighting staff.

"Are you heading out already?" Roshi asked.

"Yeah, but I'm not planning on getting them all. I'm going to stop once I find my Grandpa's Four-Star ball. You coming too, Krillin?" Goku asked.

"Nah, I don't guess so. Without Bulma and her plane, I'd have to ride on your shoulders, since I can't get on the Nimbus Cloud. And if you are only looking for your Grandpa's ball, I'll just hang back."

"Okay, suit yourself. NIMBUS!!" Goku yelled up to the sky.

His little cloud descended from nowhere and came to rest right in front of him. Goku hopped aboard.

"See you guys later," he said as he took off towards the mainland.

"Did you really not want to go?" Roshi asked.

"Well, he's going after his family heirloom. I know he's been missing it pretty bad these three years. I figured this was something he should do alone."

"Besides," Roshi guessed, "without the girl, it's not nearly as much fun, eh?"

"That too," Krillin laughed.

"I suppose we should get started on cleaning that shark," Roshi said.

"Hey, is that Goku coming back?" Krillin asked, pointing into the distance.

"No, that's a plane, like Bulma's. What would she be doing coming back?"

Another small plane flew over the island a few times, finally coming in for a landing near where Bulma's had.

This plane was different, however. Meaner looking. Almost like a military plane.

From out of the cockpit emerged a young woman with large blond hair, tied back with a red ribbon. She dropped to the ground and marched over to the men.

"My name is Launch, of the Red Ribbon Army," she said, drawing her gun from its holster and aiming it at the pair. "And we've got some questions we'd like for you to answer!"

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S-Shield's notes

Well, I couldn't stay away. I wrote my Dragon Ball movie. I was happy with it and everything, but I still had a bunch of ideas left over.

And then I got to thinking, instead of going directly into Dragon Ball Z for the next movie, what if our "actors" need a little time to grow into their roles as adults. So I figured a middle movie might be appropriate. One where I could introduce other character from Dragon Ball that I couldn't get to in the first one, therefore making a DBZ movie better, with the larger cast of characters.

So, here it is, my Dragon Ball Movie sequel. Hopefully it won't suck, since it's a sequel.

Let me know what you think with a review!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Roshi and Krillin stared at the, admittedly hot, blond woman holding a gun on them, claiming to be a member of the Red Ribbon Army.

"Um," Krillin started, "is there something we can help you with?"

"Can it, shrimp, I'm asking the questions here," she barked.

"Well then, ask away, my dear," Roshi said, perfectly delighted by this newest arrival.

"Satellite surveillance and eye-witness accounts place the two of you right in the middle of the whole Demon King fiasco of three years ago. We want to know who you are, and what your connection is to the Dragonballs."

"Well, no wonder you have so many questions, Ms. Launch, was it?" Roshi responded, "It sounds like you people don't know anything." He smiled.

"Listen, old man, I'll drop you like a bag of dirt!" she said as she leveled her gun on him.

Roshi glanced over at his student and winked.

The pair suddenly vanished from Launch's vision. She looked around confused for a moment before her gun was snatched from her hand and her feet knocked out from under her. But not before she felt someone pinching her on the butt.

Launch looked up and saw her two "hostages" standing over her, the kid holding her gun and the old man smiling like crazy.

"Boy, lady. Did you come to the wrong island or what?" Krillin smirked.

"Now how about you answer a few of our questions?" Roshi suggested.

Launch sneered. "How about the two of you go to Hell!" She held up a small remote control and pressed the button, instantly blowing up her plane in a fiery explosion.

All three where thrown back by the force of the blast.

When the dust settled, Krillin slowly climbed to his feet and trudged over to Roshi, whom he found covering the lady's body like a shield.

"Wow," Krillin whispered. Clearly, Roshi truly was a great hero, risking his own life for the enemy. Krillin was impressed, until his noted the position of Roshi's head in relation to Launch's chest.

"Jeeze, do you ever give up?" Krillin sighed.

Roshi stood up as well, attempting to crack his back in the process.

"Yep," the old man bragged. "Reaction time is still flawless."

"I noticed you didn't try to save me," Krillin pointed out.

"What!? I knew you'd survive! Besides, what I want to know is why our blond visitor has suddenly changed into a brunette."

"Huh?" Krillin gawked as he looked at the girl. Sure enough, it was the same girl, but her hair was now black with purple highlights.

"Oh, what happened?" she groaned as she regained consciousness. She looked up at the two of them almost sweetly, "How did I get here? Did I do anything bad?"

This girl was crazy. Her whole demeanor had changed with her hair color.

"Um," Krillin started. "You said something about the Red Ribbon?"

"That's right!" she shot up. "I'm supposed to interrogate everyone who had contact with the Demon King and find out what happened to the Dragonballs!" She looked back, "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"Who was she?" Roshi asked.

"Who?"

"Launch."

"I don't know. My name's Lunch. Nice to meet you."

"Wait," Krillin came forward. "You mean the Red Ribbon Army is back? And they're after anyone who was involved in what happened three years ago?"

Krillin shot a worried look at Roshi. "That means Goku, Bulma, everyone we know is being targeted by the Red Ribbon, the worst criminal syndicate in the world! What are we going to do?"

Roshi took a step towards the water and looked across the ocean. "What else? We are going to warn them."

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Goku flew higher and higher, taking in the view. He loved flying. From up here you could see everything.

He checked the radar again to make sure he was going in the right direction. As much as he loved traveling, he was kind of hoping he could find his grandpa's ball first.

The terrain slowly faded into a dry, hot desert. Goku wished he had brought along some water. The radar was telling him that he was getting close, so he dropped off his cloud and began wandering the land on foot.

From a distance, a pair of eyes watched the young boy's search through a spy-glass. The furry creature turned from his hiding place and retreated into the hollow hill, shouting "Master, master. Come quick, we've got one!"

Deep in the bandit's lair, Yamcha, the Wolf of the Desert, stirred.

"Who would be foolish enough to enter my territory, Puar?" Yamcha asked his small flying companion.

"It's a young boy, he looks pretty weak, but he's got a really nice gizmo he's playing with. Like a video game or something."

"Hm, I could do with some entertainment!" Yamcha rose. "Fetch me my sword!"

Goku continued to follow the radar's directions, leading him to a large clump of tangled brush that could have easily hid a Dragonball.

But before Goku could wade through the rough vegetation, he heard the sound of a small scooter. Looking around, he finally noticed a small cloud of dust heading in his direction.

The scooter stopped and from it stepped a tall young man with long black hair. On his shoulder road at small cat-looking thing with bluish fur.

"Welcome to the desert, my young friend," the man spoke. "If you wish to make your way safely across to the other side, you should hand over that game of yours, and any other money you might be carrying."

"No thanks," Goku answered. "I don't need a bodyguard. I'll be okay."

Goku then began pushing his way through the brush, looking for his Dragonball.

Yamcha and Puar looked at each other for a moment. "Is this kid stupid, or just playing with us?"

"I'm not sure, sir."

"Okay, enough playing around boy. Your antics amuse me, but I am Yamcha, feared Wolf of the Desert. And if you wish to live to see tomorrow, you will do as I say!"

"I already said I didn't need your help," Goku responded. "I'm pretty tough; I can survive all on my own. Thanks anyway!" He went back to looking.

Yamcha sighed. "This isn't going at all like we rehearsed."

"Found it!" Goku jumped up, holding the Dragonball in his hand. "Oh shoot, it's just the Two-Star ball."

"Hey, there. That's a pretty bauble, how about you hand that over?" Yamcha sneered, ready to take it by force if need be.

"Here you go," Goku tossed it over at him. "It's not the one I wanted anyway. NIMBUS!!"

Goku's cloud dropped out of the sky.

Yamcha's mouth hung open when Goku climbed on it and actually stayed aloft.

"Okay, guys. Thanks for the help," Goku said. "By the way, you may want to hide that Dragonball or something. Bad guys always seem to be after them. You never know. Later!"

And with that, the small boy rode his magic cloud up into the sky.

Yamcha stared first at the sky and then down at the ball in his hand. "What did that kid say about bad guys? And what the heck's a Dragonball?"

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S-Shield's notes

Goku meets Yamcha and Puar. Don't worry, they'll be back.

And the idea for Launch and Lunch to have two different names is one I've had for years. I just think it makes sense. Much easier than saying Good Lunch/Bad Lunch.

Thanks for reading.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Commander Red stirred in his cybernetic cocoon. At times, it felt more like a coffin.

"Dr. Gero!" he called, his voice aided by electronic means. "I need you."

Gero was at his side in an instant. The tall man's large white beard hung down his chest, aiding his appearance as a mad-scientist.

"Yes, Commander?"

"How goes our progress on your newest mechanical creation? Is it combat-ready?"

"In just a few days, it should be fully operational."

"We need more fire-power, Gero. We lost a good deal of men and munitions taking down that cursed Demon-spawn."

"I understand completely. Have you given any further consideration to my suggestion to ease your current condition?"

"Never!" Red's metallic voice clanged. "I may have been crippled by the Demon King, but I refuse to place my brain into one of your cold, unfeeling machines. I will wear this damage as a badge of honor!"

"Very well," Gero looked away.

"Now, what of the Dragonballs?"

Another voice answered. "As we speak, we are currently in possession of four Dragonballs, which are being held in separate locations to avoid arousing the suspicion of anyone else with the ability to track them via radar."

Red turned his new body toward the speaker. "General Tao, four balls you say? Very good. Once we have all seven, the world will be ours!"

"Indeed," Tao smiled.

"Now, return to your post. We must not jeopardize your cover."

"I go at once, sir," Tao bowed and left the room.

"All is going according to plan," Red's voice fell off into a robotic hum that resembled purring.

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Goku was amazed at how many different kinds of weather the world had. Just a few days ago, he was in the desert, and now he found himself in a frozen wasteland.

He approached a small village from the air, following the radar. Hopefully this would be his grandpa's ball.

Before he could get too close, someone below opened fire on him. Goku dodged bullets coming from so many different angles he found it hard to catch his balance.

Dropping out of the sky and hitting the ground hard, Goku was surprised to find that he sank a little into the ground upon landing.

"This white stuff in tricky!" he said.

A stray bullet whizzed over his head and brought him back to the task at hand. Now he could see his attackers, around ten men, all better dressed for the weather than he was, and all carrying machine guns.

"Stay where you are, kid! Rules are no one comes in the village and no one leaves who isn't working on the dig!"

"Huh?" Goku responded. "I'm just looking for a Dragonball, okay?"

"Did you hear that, he knows about the Dragonball? We'd better take him to see the boss!"

The men advanced on Goku and surrounded him.

"Come with us!" one of the men said as he struck Goku in the back with his weapon.

"Ow, cut that out!" Goku cried as he pushed the man away, tossing him about twenty feet with a mild tap.

"Get him!" the men opened fire again.

Goku had had enough. He jumped in the air and drew his staff, swinging it in a wide arc and taking out two men at once.

From there he zigzagged as best he could across the terrain, knocking out soldiers left and right until they all fell.

"Whew," Goku breathed. "That was kind of fun."

He then noticed more people coming out of the town. He prepared himself for more fighting before he realized that these people were different. They did not carry guns and they were mostly women and children.

"What have you done!?" one of the women screamed. "Now our husbands and sons will die for sure!"

"Do what?" Goku asked.

A rather large woman with dark hair stepped forward. "Our village was being held hostage by the Red Ribbon Army, who where searching for something called a Dragonball. They threatened us, and made our men go out day after day and search after it for them. And then, once they found it, they took all our men into their base and haven't told us what they mean to do with them."

"So these guys are after the Dragonballs, and they kidnapped your families to help? That's terrible!" Goku could feel his blood boiling.

"Yes, and now we fear that because of what you have done, they will kill everyone," the woman began to tear up.

"Well, don't worry," Goku puffed up his chest. "I'll go save your families for you!"

The women all looked at each other with confusion.

"Oh, no. You can't. You are just a small boy; you can possibly defeat an entire base of soldiers!"

"I dunno, I'm pretty strong. I once beat this guy called the Demon King, and he wasn't even human!"

"You are the boy who killed the Demon King," the women all gasped. "Then maybe you can help. Thank Heavens!"

"Where is everybody?" Goku asked.

"Beyond that hill. In Muscle Tower! But be careful, they say there are worse things in there than just men with guns."

"I will. Thanks. But first, do you have any warmer clothes and could borrow? I just fought all those guy and my sweat is freezing out here!" Goku hugged himself and jumped up and down to keep warm.

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S-Shield's notes

And so begins the Assault on Muscle Tower. Thanks for reading.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Goku, now fully decked out in winter survival gear, waved goodbye to the women of the village as he ran off to save their husbands from captivity within Muscle Tower.

"He's such a nice young boy," one of the women said.

"Yes, it'll be sad when they kill him," said another.

Goku charged at full-speed towards the Tower. He was afraid that if he didn't hit them hard and fast, if he gave them time to consider their options, then the soldiers inside might kill the villagers or use them as hostages. Goku had been through that before.

No, Goku wanted all their attention focused squarely on him.

To this end, Goku screamed a war-cry as loud as he could, drawing his staff and waving it over his head like a maniac.

The men standing guard outside the Tower, taking no chances, took aim and fired their weapons at him. Goku refused to alter his course, continuing in a straight line and using his staff to deflect the bullets that would have otherwise hit him.

Not choosing to waste time with the guards Goku leapt over them and over the wall surrounding the Tower. Once inside the gate, Goku continued on his direct path through the front door and into the facility.

Immediately within lay a large open area, filled with very large men, all carrying weapons.

Goku commenced bashing on everyone in sight, not leaving a man standing. Realizing that it was actually pretty warm in the Tower, Goku shed his thick outer clothing on the run up a flight of stairs leading to the middle level.

So far, Goku smiled, everything was going smoothly.

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"Sir, we've got an intruder alert."

"Where is he?"

"He's already dispatched with the first-floor officers, and is making his way up to the second level."

"Impressive. But he must not be allowed to continue. You know what to do. Release Subject 8."

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Goku found the second level devoid of soldiers. Perhaps they were counting on the men downstairs from preventing anyone from getting any farther than that?

Locating the next set of stairs, Goku made a quick dash for them. But suddenly, his keen-nose detected a putrid stench coming from that direction. He paused, cautious of a trap.

From under the stairs, a wall opened up leading to a deep dark area.

From the darkness emerged a hideously deformed creature. It appeared to have once been a man, but his skin was grayish green, and his eyes were bone-white. The smell led Goku to believe that the flesh had been dead a long time, but there was also the odor of electricity in the air.

"Who are you?" the boy asked.

The creature garbled something unintelligible and rushed Goku. His speed was surprising, but Goku was still able to dodge his first assault.

The monster spun back around on his heels and managed to punch Goku in the back of the head.

Recovering from the hit, Goku bounced off the wall and tackled his opponent, the momentum carrying them both over the railing and sending the monster plummeting down to the floor below them.

Goku, however, succeeded in grasping the railing to check his fall.

A sickening thud echoed up from the lower level. Goku climbed up and over. He turned and bowed his head towards whatever the hell that thing was he was just fighting.

"Rest in peace, ugly bad guy."

Goku turned and headed for the stairs.

A second thud sounded and the monster suddenly reappeared, having jumped from the lower floor all the way back up to where Goku was.

Staring in awe at not only the creature's resilience but also his power, Goku felt he had no choice but to quickly place his hands at his side and begin to coalesce his power.

"Ka-Me-Ha" he began shouting as the monster charged at him again. "Me-HAAA!"

Goku unleashed his energy attack against his seemingly unstoppable foe. The force of the blast hit the beast and shattered his form, leaving nothing but bent pieces of scrap metal framing and cooked flesh.

"What is this place?" Goku asked aloud, before hauling butt up the staircase.

He found another deserted area, but this time with no stairs. This must be the top floor. All around him were several doors, leading to different areas.

"Those villager dudes must be behind at least one of these doors," Goku reasoned as he kicked down the closest one.

Inside the room were several men, resembling the creature he fought downstairs, except they were all in various stages of creation. Various pieces of technology like the ones leftover from his blast surrounded the room.

But the worst thing of all was that each man was wearing clothes similar to the villagers Goku had met down outside.

Someone was turning these men into monsters!

Goku fled the room and crashed through another door. This time he found what he was looking for.

An older man, with a large white beard was standing over a villager as he attempted to perform some medical procedure on him.

"Get away from him!" Goku shouted, his blood boiling with rage.

The older man looked away from his work. "Hmm, survived Subject 8, did you? Very good. You might be worth studying yourself," he smiled.

"Who are you, and what are you doing to these guys!?" Goku screamed.

"My name is Dr. Gero, young man, but you, like all those poor souls, may now call me Master!"

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S-Shield's notes

Dr. Gero's evil experiments are something we never got into in the anime. I figure he must have had a few less-than-stellar prototypes before getting to his awesome Androids.

Goku being angered and disgusted by this mistreatment of people is just the kind of thing that'll make him really hate the Red Ribbon Army, don't you think?


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"What are you doing to all these people!?" Goku screamed at Dr. Gero.

"What does it look like, young man? I'm converting them into willing soldiers for the Red Ribbon Army," the old man smiled wickedly.

"So you're turning them into monsters like the one downstairs!" Goku said, pointing an accusing finger.

"Now you are catching on. These gentlemen were helpful enough to find the Dragonball for us, which I'm sure you know all about. And after that, they lent their services towards my research."

"But why?! These people have families!"

"Why? Simple, because an army needs soldiers. And as for their families, once I have perfected the process with these men, I shall open the door to all those villagers down below, and I shall convert them as well."

"No you won't!" Goku screamed as he rushed the old man, body slamming him hard enough to send him flying across the room.

Gero collided with a row of machinery that erupted in sparks and flame.

Goku didn't enjoy taking life. But he had no problem stopping people who did enjoy it. He looked down at the poor man on the table and tried to find some way of disconnecting him from the equipment.

A loud pop sounded from the corner where Goku had buried Gero. Turning, Goku saw a fist flying through the air and punch him in the face. The odd part was, there was no body attached to the fist.

Picking himself up off the ground, Goku's wide eyes saw the runaway hand zoom over to Gero and reconnect itself to his arm.

Gero seemed unharmed.

"You're a monster too!" Goku reasoned.

"Oh no. Not me. I'm something else. I'm an Android. I underwent an expensive and dangerous treatment to convert my whole body into perfect machinery. These men, or monsters as you call them, they are my attempts to create a more cost-friendly version."

Gero took a step towards Goku. "But you, you should be something special when I'm done with you!"

Gero whipped his other hand out towards Goku, and it too detached. The only difference was that this hand had a mass of extendable wire attached to it, effectively increasing Gero's reach by over 20 feet.

Goku was snagged by the long-arm, and slung around the room at deadly speeds. The old man finally sent Goku crashing into a wall.

Rising, Goku tried to wipe the blood from his mouth but Gero attacked again. This time, Goku was ready. He quickly dodged Gero's extendable hand and bounced around the room, waiting for him to fire his arm cannon again. Goku didn't want to us his Kamehameha in such a confined space, for fear that it would blast some of the men in the other rooms.

But with every move Goku made, Gero's robotic eyes recorded and calculated.

Gero finally shot off his other arm. Goku dodged it, but this time he took a firm grasp of it as it passed and allowed it to carry him back to Gero at a high speed. Just before it reconnected, Goku let go of the hand and used his additional momentum to hit the old man's head with both feet, knocking it off completely.

Checking to make sure Gero was really dead, Goku turned back to the man on the table. Miraculously, the man was coming back to life.

"What happened?" he asked.

"This Red Ribbon guy was trying to turn you into a monster. You're wives sent me up to help out," Goku told him. "Quick, let's get the other guys up before the men downstairs wake up first."

A little later, the still-woozy men of the village had taken possession of the soldier's guns, and of Muscle Tower itself.

The women came running up from their homes to find their husbands safe and sound, all thanks to Goku.

"My wife tells me you were looking for the Dragonball?" the lead man asked Goku and the celebration later that night.

"That's right, my grandpa's Four-star ball."

"Well, I'm sorry, we only found one with five stars," he said as he handed the ball to Goku. "Sorry you went to all that trouble for nothing."

"No, it's alright. I found out about the Red Ribbon Army, and I got to beat up an evil guy. That's always good," he smiled.

"Besides," Goku continued, "with these new bad guys running around, I had better start collecting these again to keep them safe. Come to think of it," Goku said digging around in his shirt, trying to find his radar, "I need to go back and get that one I left with the guy in the desert. Wolf-man something."

Goku pushed the button on the top of the radar, only to have the screen remain dead. "What!? Oh no. It must have got damaged during the fight! This is why Bulma always carries the radar, no one ever tries to fight her!"

Goku sighed and asked if anyone know where Bulma Briefs lived. "I guess I need her to fix the radar."

"Bulma Briefs, the famous heiress to the Capsule Corporation? She lives in West City in Capsule Corp HQ. You actually know her?"

"Yep, she's a friend. We used to travel together, but she said she had to go off and be boring or something. I should get going."

"But you need to rest."

"Nah, all my wounds have healed up already. I'm just going to take my Nimbus and go find her. Thanks everybody!"

"No thank you," everyone shouted back as Goku hopped on his cloud and flew away.

"That young boy is something else. Stronger than anything, friends with famous people. I hope he finds what he's looking for."

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In the ruins of Dr. Gero's lab, a large fat man rummaged around looking for something. Lifting a stone, he finally found Gero's severed head.

"Hurry up, you fool," the head spoke to the man. "I've got valuable data I must get back to Commander Red!"

"Yes sir," the fat man spoke with a strangely high voice. Like a synthesizer.

The fat man tucked Gero's head firmly under his right arm, tossing the rest of his body over his left shoulder. From there, the man stepped out onto the roof and jumped off the Tower, seeming to fly for miles under his own power.

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S-Shield's notes

Gero's man saves him and his valuable info on Goku to be used later.

Thanks for reading.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The small boat skimmed along the surface of the ocean, struggling valiantly to make it to shore with its three passengers.

Roshi and Krillin discussed strategy while the brunette Lunch gazed pleasantly at the clouds.

"So how are we going to find Goku and Bulma?" Krillin was asking.

"I'm not sure," Roshi replied. "That cloud Goku is riding is so fast he could be anywhere on the continent by now. Perhaps our best bet is to find Bulma and warn her."

"That makes sense," the boy replied. "After all, we know Goku can take care of himself."

"Miss Lunch," Roshi looked over his shoulder, "can you give us any extra information about the Red Ribbon's plans that might be useful to us?"

"Nope," the lady responded. "My job was just to find you guys and bring you back to base, but now that my plane is busted, I can't take you there."

"Well, that's what you get for blowing up your own plane," Krillin mumbled under his breath.

"Now, now, that's not her fault… apparently," Roshi admonished, shooting Lunch a raise eyebrow with his last word. "That was her blonder self."

"And just what the heck are we supposed to do if that side of her comes back?" Krillin asked. "That girl was dangerous!"

Before Roshi could answer, the boat began to shake severely. The two men exchanged worried glances. For a moment, the sea calmed back down and everything was quiet.

Suddenly, there was a huge explosion of water as a giant gleaming submarine emerged from the ocean's depths, bearing the Red Ribbon's insignia.

Roshi looked back over to Lunch, who was now standing up, waving and smiling at the submarine. In her hand was a small transmitter device.

"I don't think the blonde was the only dangerous one," Roshi remarked.

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Bulma looked down at her ledger book. She had been reading the same page for an hour.

"Stupid company," she said to herself.

Bulma hated that she had to ditch Goku and the others. She hated the look in their eyes when she said she was leaving to become a grown-up. Looking down at her fiscal reports, with their graphs and charts, she found it very difficult to remember what was so great about being an adult in the first place.

"BULMA!!" a voice screamed at her through the window.

Picking herself up off the ground, Bulma raced to see what was going on. Standing on the other side of the ledge, a full five stories off the ground was a messy looking young boy riding a cloud.

"Goku!?" Bulma questioned as she flung open the shutters. "What the hell are you doing here!?"

Goku hopped off his cloud into her bedroom without a second though. "The radar's busted!" he said, "plus there are these dudes from the Red Ribbon Army out hunting the Dragonballs. We gotta do something!"

Bulma tried to formulate an order in which to ask the 37 different questions she now had, but when she opened her mouth, all that came out was a string of expletives.

"Bulma, dear, what's the matter?" asked a white-headed man, poking his head in through her door.

"Dad," Bulma started, trying to make some aspect of this situation make sense. "Dad, this is my friend Goku. I told you about him, he's the one who defeated the Demon King."

"Oh, my boy, goodness gracious, great to meet you!" the man smiled through his mustache as he came over and shook Goku's hand. "I'm Dr. Briefs. Are you two about to start making out?"

"Good god!" Bulma screamed. "Goku's a kid, get a grip!"

"Well, all I'm seeing is a healthy young boy sneaking in through your bedroom window. If you wanted a little privacy, that's fine by me."

Bulma sighed while Goku looked confused.

A short time later, Bulma having insisted on moving the conversation to Dr. Briefs' labs, Goku had filled the pair in on his latest adventures.

"Hmm," Briefs mumbled. "That certainly sounds like Dr. Gero, alright. Experimenting on human subjects! Ghastly business. But frankly I'm surprised. I thought the Red Ribbon was destroyed when they unleashed the Demon King from his slumber."

"Wasn't Commander Red supposed to have been killed in that attack?" Bulma asked.

"At the time, that's what we all believed. But there have been rumors since that Gero was able to save Red's crippled body with his science. But no one knows where the group is headquartered anymore. It could be anywhere in the world."

"What do you think they want the balls for?" Goku asked.

"What else but world domination?" Briefs replied. "They were severely beaten by the Demons three years ago, and now it seems they are turning innocent humans into their unwilling cyber-slaves to bolster their ranks."

"What do we do?" Bulma asked. "I mean, who should we call?"

Briefs smiled. "Call, my dear? There is no one to call. There is only one organization in the world with the capabilities to combat the Red Ribbon, and you are standing in it!"

"Us!" Bulma started. "You want to call down the wrath of the world's worst criminal organization on us!?"

"Why not," the old man responded. "After all, you antagonized the clan of demons who defeated them. And then your boyfriend here defeated the demons. Simple logic shows that we've got the odds in our favor. Think of it as a public service."

"But dad-"

"Yep, you and Goku here will just have to go find those Dragonballs all on your own before the bad guys do. I'll go pack some equipment and tell the boys in the hangar to fuel-up the jet," he said as he wandered off down the hallway. "And you'd best get to work on fixing that radar!"

Bulma sighed.

"I like him," Goku spoke up. "He reminds me of how you used to be before you got all grown up."

"Now you see exactly what I'm trying to avoid ending up like. Just give me the damn radar!" she barked.

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S-Shield's notes

Yes it's been awhile. Sorry.

I really ended up liking Bulma's dad. I may have to keep him around.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The island base was bigger than it looked from the outside, if that was possible.

Roshi and Krillin had been taken aboard the Red Ribbon's submarine, thanks to Lunch, who left the pair mystified as to her true capabilities.

From there, they had been transported to the group's Island Fortress, which resided deep within an extinct ocean volcano.

"Pretty nice set you've got here," Roshi joked, trying to keep the mood light and his captors off their guard, as he looked around at the state-of-the-art facility.

"Thank you," Lunch smiled sweetly.

"Yes, high praise indeed from one as renowned as yourself, Master Roshi" came a calm, cold voice. From around the corner emerged a tall man in uniform with short blond hair.

"I am General Blue, nice to meet you," the man smiled.

"Are you in charge here?" Krillin asked.

"I am. And I want to thank you for coming all this way just to answer our questions," he smiled coldly again.

"Oh, no trouble at all," Roshi assured him. "Say, do you think you could undo these handcuffs?"

"No," Blue responded curtly. "Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, I'd very much like to get down to the business at hand."

"What could you possibly want to know?" Roshi asked. "I mean, you know who we are, you know who the Demon King was and you already know how to find the Dragonballs."

"True," Blue confirmed. "But what we don't know is this- Who is the boy?"

"What?" Krillin snapped.

"Not you, fool! The boy who defeated the Demon King, who is he? How did he acquire such power? Is he related to you, or is he just your student!"

"Figures," Krillin rolled his eyes. "I come all this way and they just want to talk about Goku."

"That boy, a mere child, had the power to crush the King of Demons single-handedly. If at all possible, we'd like him to join us."

Roshi stared silently at Blue for a few moments. It seemed as if his jovial demeanor had left him.

"I'm afraid," Roshi started, "that you won't have much luck trying to recruit that boy. He's something special. He's pure of heart, that one. He can't be bought, seduced, intimidated, or leveraged in any way. In fact, you had just better hope that you never find my boy, because if you do, he'll crush you single-handedly."

Blue glared at the old man for a moment, taking in his words. At last he relaxed, and said "That's fine. You see, we don't have to convince your boy to join us. Thanks to the pioneering work of Dr. Gero in the field of cybernetics, we'll have your boy, lock, stock and barrel. Just like we are going to have you, the famous Master Roshi. Take them both to a cell to await conversion!"

The guards led Roshi and Krillin away. Lunch stood behind Blue and put on a sad face. "I liked them," she said. "You didn't really have to be so mean, did you?"

"Shut up!" Blue barked at her. "No one is talking to you, you nitwit!" and he stormed off.

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Roshi and Krillin were deposited in a cell deep within the base. They looked around their new surroundings without much enthusiasm.

"Well, that was a real pretty speech," Krillin spoke up. "Hope you talk about me that way when I'm not around," he smiled.

"Without a doubt," Roshi replied. "Now make yourself useful and break these cuffs for an old man."

Krillin jumped and brought his joined hands under him and a quick motion, brining them around to his front. He then swung them both down between Roshi's, snapping the chain that held them together. Roshi did likewise for the boy.

"So, now what do you want to do?" Krillin asked when they were both free.

"Well, destroying the place is probably our best option. But I'd like to find out if they have any Dragonballs on site, first. Kill two birds with one stone."

"If they do have some here, Goku should be around eventually, right?" Krillin asked.

"Yeah, but we want to keep Goku as far away from these guys as possible. I didn't like what I heard about cyber-conversion."

"Well, do you want to take out the guards, or should I," Krillin asked.

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The alarms sounded throughout the base. The prisoners had broken free!

"Find them, damn it!" Blue screamed at his men. His Intel had been faulty. He knew Roshi was good, but he had believed the older man to be nothing more than a skilled martial artist. Not some kind of super-human!

Still, it didn't matter. Roshi and his little bald sidekick where still trapped on the island, with no way off other than swimming for it.

Just then, Blue heard the sound of a gun cocking behind his left ear. Turning, he saw a blond Launch aiming at him.

"I don't like to be insulted!" she growled at him as she pulled the trigger.

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S-Shield's notes

And now Launch defects. Let this be a lesson, always treat your henchmen with respect. Especially the ones with severe bi-polar issues.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Puar stood gazing at the desert through his spyglass, on the look-out for any passing travelers to rob.

"Anything?" Yamcha asked.

"Nothing today, sir," the little blue cat replied. "Everything's quiet."

Just then, a large airplane soared overhead and knocked the pair off their feet.

"Never mind, sir."

Bulma landed the plane and stepped out, brushing the dust her arrival had stirred up off her shoulder. Goku landed a few feet away and instantly began sneezing. Bulma sighed and began walking in the direction her radar told her.

"So this is where you met that guy before. The one you let keep the Dragonball?" she asked.

"Yep," the boy replied. "But he was a really nice guy. He kept offering to help me across the desert."

"Well, let's hope that he's nice enough to hand over that Dragonball without a fuss." She looked down at the radar. "Hm, it looks like the ball is coming to us."

Another cloud of dust billowed up from the small scooter that was heading their way.

"Hey, I remember this part!" Goku spoke up.

The scooter came to rest and Yamcha climbed off.

Bulma's heartbeat quickened as she stared at the tall young man with the long black hair and sun-tanned skin.

He, however, took one look at Goku and rolled his eyes. "Crap, it's that crazy kid again!"

"Oh, yeah," Bulma said. "You two have definitely met."

Yamcha glanced in Bulma's direction and was immediately speechless. Maybe it was her natural beauty, or her fiery personality, or maybe it was that fact that he hadn't seen a human girl for some time. Whatever the case, Yamcha was in love.

"Hey, Mr. Hyena-dude!" Goku called for his attention. "We need that Dragonball back, please!"

"Never," Puar replied. "That treasure is the spoils of war. We claimed it fair and square! You'd have to pry it from our cold dead hands!"

"Here you go!" Yamcha sighed blissfully as he handed the crystal ball to Bulma.

"What!?" Puar screeched.

"Thanks," Bulma said as she stared into his eyes. Finally, she turned around to leave. "Well, let's go get the rest before the Red Ribbon does."

"Wait," Yamcha called after her. "You can't mean the Red Ribbon Army?"

"Yep," Goku answered. "They want these Dragonballs to get their evil wish for world domination, and we have to stop them!"

"Just the two of you? That's suicide!"

"It's not just us," Bulma answered. "We've got some buddies we need to go find next. And they're really strong, like Goku here. Show him Goku."

Goku walked over to a large boulder and lifted it with one hand, smiling.

But the rest of the group was more amazed by the sight at Goku's feet. It appeared the boulder he had lifted was hollow, and hiding underneath it was a small man in a ninja costume.

The man glared at the witnesses, annoyed at having been found so easily. "Dang it!" he muttered. Then he leapt from the desert floor and zoomed past Bulma, snatching the Dragonball from her hand.

"I've been waiting here all day," said the ninja, "carefully planning my next move and then you kids show up and ruin everything! Well, I got my Dragonball and now it's time to go!"

He laughed as he threw down a smoke bomb in an attempt to disappear. Unfortunately, in the flat desert, there was nowhere to conceal his escape, and as the smoke dissipated, he was clearly visible about twenty feet away.

"Dang it!"

"Goku, get him!" Bulma called out.

The small boy leapt at the mysterious stranger, who quickly side-stepped his assault while tossing a net over the boy. "Hahaha!"

"Who are you?" Bulma demanded.

"I am Major Purple of the Red Ribbon. Not only have you interfered in my mission to track and capture this Dragonball, but you have identified yourselves as enemies of the Red Ribbon, for that you must die!"

"But he was just running away a second ago," Puar pointed out.

"Now, you will hand over your flying vehicle!" Purple shouted.

"Goku!" Bulma shouted.

"I'm kinda stuck," he replied. "What sort of magic is this?"

"It's not magic, it's stupidity," Bulma growled as she pulled a gun from her belt and opened fire on Purple.

"The heck!?" he screamed. "What are you doing with a gun? How old are you!?"

Purple rushed Bulma again and knocked the gun from her hand with a solid chop, which also sent the girl flying.

"No!" Yamcha called as he rushed to catch her fall. Bulma looked up in the eyes of the strong man who was holding her. Yamcha blushed and dropped her on her butt.

While Bulma was trying to pick herself up, Yamcha charged Purple.

"Whoa, Ninja Screen," Purple shouted as he simply picked up a handful of sand and threw it into Yamcha's face.

"That's it!" he shouted. "Wolf Fang Fist!" Yamcha flew at Purple and let loose a flurry of strikes that sent the ninja soaring into the side of Bulma's plane, knocking him unconscious.

Bulma blushed at the display of raw power.

"Wow, you're strong too!" Goku beamed as he finally got loose from the net. "Let's fight!"

Yamcha seemed taken aback by the request.

"Wait," Bulma stopped him. "We've already got enough enemies, let's ease up on the whole 'fighting everybody we see' plan, okay?"

"Awww," Goku moaned and shuffled away.

Bulma sauntered up to Yamcha and took his hands, "Wow, you're really strong," she breathed. "Won't you please come with us and help us fight the Red Ribbon?"

Yamcha froze under the direct gaze of the young girl. "Umm," he stuttered. At last he marshaled his strength and shouted, "Yes, I will lend you my strength," but still afraid of Bulma's advances, he screamed, "I'll ride with the boy on his cloud!"

Yamcha tried to jump on Goku's cloud and immediately fell through.

Bulma stared at him. "I hope that didn't mess up his face," she muttered under her breath.

Goku laughed while Puar just rolled his eyes.

After some inappropriate suggestions and an argument or two, Yamcha and Puar joined up with Goku and Bulma. But Yamcha insisted Goku ride in the plane with them and sit between him and Bulma.

"Why are you scared of Bulma," Goku asked during the plane ride. "She may be mean but she's real weak!"

"Shut up!" both Bulma and Yamcha yelled at him.

"Hey, did we just leave that ninja guy lying in the desert?" Puar wondered out loud.

A little while later, the group was nearing a small island the radar said contained two Dragonballs.

"Oh, my god," Bulma said. "I think that's the Red Ribbon's aqua-base!"

"Why is there smoke coming out of it?" Goku asked.

Suddenly there was a huge explosion from the side. A large blue wave of energy poured into the open air, giving off a blinding flash.

"A Kamehameha!" both Goku and Yamcha screamed.

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S-Shield's notes

So Yamcha and Puar join the crew while Roshi takes a bite out of the Red Ribbon Army's base.

Thanks for reading and please review.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Roshi and Krillin ran down the halls of the undersea fortress, skillfully dispatching with anyone who tried to stop them.

"So," Krillin asked, "any idea how close we are to the surface? Or maybe where those Dragonballs are hidden?"

"Nope," Roshi responded without pause or concern.

"You think maybe we ought to start asking people instead of just knocking them unconscious?"

"Couldn't hurt," the old man replied. "But let's ask on the go, I don't want to stand around for too long."

A fat, nervous looking man in a uniform peeked out from around a corner and was instantly snatched up by Roshi, who dragged him along as they ran.

"Where are the Dragonballs?" he asked.

"I don't know," the man whimpered between gasps.

"Okay," Krillin said. "How close are we to the surface?"

"You're here! You're here! This is the top level!"

"See," Roshi smiled smugly. "I told you I knew where I was going!" Roshi released the man, who ran off.

"Well, that solves one problem," Krillin said. "We can get out, but we still don't have any Dragonballs to show for our efforts. Come to think of it, we don't have any way off this island either."

"You can swim, can't you?" Roshi asked.

"Hey, boys!" a voice shouted from behind. The pair turned and saw blond Launch, armed to the teeth with weaponry. "I've got both!" She tossed Roshi two orange crystal balls.

"What are you doing here?" Krillin asked.

"Had a little dispute with management," she smiled wickedly. "Figured I turn in my resignation." She hauled a bazooka over her shoulder and fired randomly down the hallway.

Krillin and Roshi picked themselves up off the ground, still not sure what the heck was going on. They looked up and saw a submarine on the other side of the wall Launch had decimated.

"All aboard!" she called.

"I'm really starting to like this girl," Roshi remarked to his young apprentice.

The trio hopped over the debris and headed for the ship.

"So why are you helping us?" Krillin asked the woman.

"Because I'm thinking I can use you guys as a shield if they catch us," she replied.

Suddenly, a large piece of cinder block flew past the group and collided with the sub. They all turned to see General Blue, who had amazingly thrown the stone. He didn't look happy.

"What the hell!?" Launch hollered. "I already killed you!"

"Oh, really?" Blue turned and showed them a small hole in the side of his head. Inside the hole, they could see circuitry and wires.

"You're a robot!" Krillin shouted.

"No, I'm a cyborg! I told you the Red Ribbon Army ruled the field of cybernetics!"

Launch pulled out a machine gun and began firing shots into Blue. All she managed to do was expose more of his bizarre machinery. He dove for the group and tackled the woman.

"This is for trying to kill me, you-" he shouted.

Roshi caught his fist before it could shatter Launch's skull. "Now, now. Never hit a lady!" he said before effortlessly tossing the cyborg across the room.

Blue instantly recovered and shot back at the old man. The two engaged in a furious exchange of blows.

"Jeez, that old guy can fight!" Launch breathed as she tried to lift herself up off the ground.

"I should hope so," Krillin said, "because Blue just ruined our only chance of escape."

Launch looked back to see the hole torn in the side of the sub by Blue's first strike. "Son of a-"

More soldiers began pouring into the room. They mostly just watched in awe as Roshi and Blue fought it out. Launch picked up a grenade from off her arsenal and threw it them. They scattered before it went off, taking more of the surrounding wall with it.

A loud crack echoed through the whole structure. Apparently that had been a load-bearing wall! The outer wall of the base began to crumble as everyone tried to dodge the falling rubble.

Meanwhile, Roshi was trying to time his finishing blow just right. He managed to get Blue between himself and the falling ceiling.

"You're just a worthless old man!" Blue shouted. "You can't beat me with your fists! I'm more than human now!"

"Good, then I won't feel bad about this!" Roshi cupped his hands at his side as they suddenly began to glow with energy.

"Kamehameha!" Roshi screamed as he fired up at Blue, hitting not only his opponent, but also the bulk of the collapsing structure, blowing it all out into the sea!

The sunlight poured through the massive hole in the wall. Launch stared at Roshi, amazed by his display of power. Krillin coughed and shouted "Warn someone before you do that!"

"Element of surprise and all that," Roshi smiled. "Now let's get the heck out of here!"

The trio fled through the new opening and out into the salty air.

"We still need a way off this rock," Krillin reminded everybody.

"Look, there's a plane coming," Launch said. "I'll shoot it down and we can steal it!"

"Wait a minute," Roshi stopped her. "On the side, that says Capsule Corp.!"

The newly-arrive plane touched down and out from it spilled Bulma, Goku and a few strangers.

"Old-timer! Krillin!" Goku shouted with joy.

"What the hell is all this!?" Bulma questioned them. "You guys are such a mess without me!"

"Well now," Roshi smiled as he pulled two Dragonballs out of his pocket. "I wouldn't say that."

"Oh, old man I could kiss you!" Bulma replied.

"Speaking of which," Roshi started, "I'd like you to meet my new friend, Ms. Launch…"

"No time for that now," Krillin called. "Everyone in the plane, those guys are coming back!"

The newly formed team piled into the still running airplane and Bulma steered them away from the Red Ribbon's island.

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S-Shield's notes

Sorry it's taken so long. Lightning blew out my computer and it took a while to replace.

So, the gang's all together. Or are they? Who'll show up next? Wait and see.

Oh, and thanks for reading and please review. The more you review, the faster I write.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The airship was getting pretty crowed. In addition to Bulma, Goku, and Yamcha the bandit, along with his trusty sidekick Puar, they had just added old man Roshi, Krillin, and some crazy blond chick named Launch, who, Bulma had ascertained, they had apparently met when she kidnapped them for the Red Ribbon Army.

Luckily, before she defected, Launch had stolen the Red Ribbon's two Dragonballs, making her slightly more useful than anyone else on the ship, and by Bulma's logic, the least likely to get kicked out of the plane if anything went wrong.

"This is fun!" Goku shouted to her over the chattering. "We've got everybody back together and got some new friends too!"

"Hey," Bulma whistled sharply to get everyone's attention. "So where the heck am I flying this thing?!"

The group was quiet for a moment. No one sure what their next move should be.

"Well," Roshi started. "We've got four Dragonballs. The two we just stole, the one Goku got from Muscle Tower and the one you found in the desert. So right now, the odds are in our favor."

"Maybe we should check the radar?" Goku suggested.

"That's kind of what worries me," Bulma said. "Their Dragonballs are all spread out, and with four balls, we're pretty much a moving target. We have to assume the Red Ribbon has a dragon-radar too, and can track us with it."

"Let's ask," Krillin spoke up, turning to Launch. "Ms. Launch, does the Red Ribbon have a radar of their own?"

"Oh yeah," she snorted. "I agree with little rich girl over there. We are totally screwed."

"So what do we do?" Yamcha asked.

"How'd she know I was rich?" Bulma asked.

"We've got to stop the Red Ribbon!" Goku declared. "They're turning people into monsters, and we can't let that happen!"

Goku explained about his encounter with Dr. Gero. Roshi confirmed with Blue's threat about 'conversion.'

"But also," he added, "Blue said that they were after you, Goku."

"Me?"

"Yes, they are intrigued by your defeat of the Demon King. They seem to feel that if they can find you, then they can turn you into one of their cyber-warriors."

Goku was quiet for a minute. "Do you think I'd get any stronger?"

Bulma and Roshi both whacked Goku over the head.

"Ow, I didn't mean it!" he sulked. Getting serious again, Goku said "If those Red Ribbon guys want me, they can have me. I'll go to their main base and beat them all up!"

"Nothing doing, shrimp," Launch said. "No one but the highest members of the RR knows where the real headquarters is."

"Goku makes a good point, though," Roshi stroked his beard. "We'd only be wasting energy running away. But if we attacked head-on, we might surprise them."

Yamcha looked back and forth during the debate. "I'm sorry, but is this the kind of thing you people do normally?"

"Afraid so," Krillin sighed.

Just then, the console started beeping. Bulma pressed a button to let the call come through, and her father appeared on the screen.

"Bulma, are you there? I've been following your progress and I have some news. The radar shows that the other three balls are moving towards a spot on the Eastern Coast, at coordinates 38.21.45. That must be the Red Ribbons base!"

"Wait!" Bulma shouted, "how the heck did you know what we where after?"

"I always bug your phone calls and vehicles to see what you're up to. Are all those guys your boyfriends?"

Bulma punched the screen, causing it to fracture.

"Wait," Roshi said. "That's where the Crane Dynasty is! Why would the Red Ribbon be taking all their balls there?"

"Maybe they're in cahoots?" Krillin offered.

"I certainly hope not. That's an ancient and powerful empire. I'd hate to think they'd have sunk so low."

"Well, whatever their problem is," Bulma growled, still upset about her father, "let's go kick their ass!"

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The young emperor Chaotzu stood on his balcony, hovering over the railings to get a better view of his kingdom.

His bodyguard, Tien Shinhan, approached. "My lord? You should not be out in the open like this, it is not safe."

"I know, Tien. But sometimes I wish to breathe the free air."

"I understand." Tien paused, as if unsure whether to break the emperor's moment of peace. "Your majesty, we've received reports that an unidentified airship is heading in our direction. We've tried to radio the crew, but there has been no answer."

"What could they want?" the young boy asked.

"Nothing good, my lord, I assure you," a man spoke as he joined the pair on the balcony. Tien sneered.

"Oh, General Tao, thank you for coming," Chaotzu offered. "What news do you have?"

"Only that these are thieves and monsters, come to ransack your royal treasures. They must be treated as hostile invaders. Please allow me to handle this situation."

"Where do you get this information, General?" Tien questioned, shooting Tao a cold glare.

Tao pretended not to notice, "Reliable sources," was all he said.

"I trust you, General," the boy-king spoke. "Please handle this anyway you see fit."

"Thank you sir," Tao bowed and turned away.

All was going according to plan.

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S-Shield's notes

The heroes have a destination and a trap is being set.

Thanks for reading.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Explosions rocked the airship on all sides as Bulma tried desperately to avoid taking a hit.

Goku rode out front on his Nimbus Cloud, doing his best to divert enemy planes and keep his friends safe.

"I think we can assume the Crane Dynasty is working with the Red Ribbon, now!" Krillin shouted.

"Let me go after them!" Launch screamed as she cocked her gun. "I'll blow their freaking heads off!"

"No one else opens that door!" Bulma commanded. "We almost crashed when Goku jumped out before!"

"So what do we do!?" Krillin hollered.

"We've got to get as close as we can to the castle!" Bulma informed everyone. "If we land now, we'd just be sitting ducks. They opened fire on us without even trying to find out who we are. It's clear they want us dead. Our only hope is to get inside and swipe their Dragonballs!"

"Tell that to him!" Krillin pointed at the large, fierce attack-ship that was screeching towards them. "Not even Goku could take that thing down!"

Goku had a different opinion, of course.

Goku positioned himself on the cloud and began charging his energy. He released a Kamehameha blast that ate up a huge hole in the side of the enemy ship. Unfortunately, its remaining forward momentum still carried it on a collision course with Bulma and company.

She did her best to avoid the lumbering beast, but a well-timed attack from an enemy canon threw them to the earth in a brutal fashion.

Everyone climbed out onto solid ground and checked to make sure they were all in one piece. Goku landed nearby.

"Did you see that? That was my biggest Kamehameha ever!"

Bulma slapped him.

"We've got to get to cover," Yamcha called out. "Those planes will be back around any minute."

"We're still a good ways from the castle and the Dragonballs," Bulma said, looking at her radar.

"Do not trouble yourselves," a voice called. "I've been asked to escort you the rest of the way."

The ground turned as one body and saw a tall man, bald headed with a third eye set in his forehead.

"My name is Tien Shinhan, and you people are under arrest!"

"Look, we don't want any trouble," Bulma tried to reason with him. "You guys attacked us without provocation."

"We've received reports that you are thieves and mercenaries, sent to attack the treasure trove of the Crane Empire. I cannot allow that!"

"Listen to us," Roshi stepped forward. "I'm Muten Roshi. I've had friendly relations with the royal family for years-"

"I hope that doesn't mean what I think it means," Krillin mumbled.

"- and I'm telling you that this is a mistake. We aren't here to cause trouble."

Tien was visibly stunned. "THE Muten Roshi? The Turtle Hermit, the Invincible Old Master?"

"Jeez, how many names do you have?" Bulma asked.

"Yes, that's me," Roshi continued. "Now, young man, I must ask. What do you know of the Red Ribbon Army?"

Tien stiffed, and eyed Roshi with a suspicious look. "Only what everyone else knows, why?"

"We've been fighting them for some time, and we've followed them here to your country. You are not in league with them, are you?"

"What, no! Absurd!" Tien replied, but something about his voice made him seem less than sure.

"How about this, go ahead and arrest us. Take us to the Emperor, and we can straighten this whole thing out."

"I can't bring you all before the Emperor," Tien said. "But I suppose I could let you see him, assuming you can prove you are who you claim to be."

"That's good enough," Roshi smiled. "Come on everyone. We're walking the rest of the way."

The guards surrounded the group and led them towards the palace.

"So this is your brilliant scheme?" Bulma whispered to Roshi. "Just turn ourselves in?"

"It got them to stop shooting, didn't it?"

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"You were ordered to kill on sight!" General Tao berated Tien, who stood beside Master Roshi before the Emperor's throne.

Chaotzu looked from one to the other, not sure whose side he was supposed to be on.

"And then you bring this man here? He could be an assassin for all you know!"

"This man claims to be the famous Master Roshi, who took part in the Royal Tournament held by Queen Chanfow, and then stayed on to perform services to the Empire," Tien said.

Roshi looked around embarrassedly at the mention of his services to the Queen.

"That was almost a hundred years ago, and no one alive today knows was Roshi looks like," Tao pointed out.

"I like to keep to myself these days," Roshi smiled.

"Your majesty," Tao began, turning to Chaotzu, "I implore you to see past this ruse and have this imposter and his cohorts executed."

Chaotzu was quiet for a moment. "General Tao, that seems a bit excessive, given that we don't know for sure who these people are, one way or the other."

"Perhaps if the General could inform us, at last, of where he acquired the information that these men are dangerous," Tien said, a new edge appearing in his voice.

Tao looked less than pleased at the state of things.

"I'd rather not, young mister Tien," Tao said, "but however, I will be happy to provide evidence of your own traitorous actions against the crown!"

"What!?" both Tien and Chaotzu cried out in shock.

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Goku, Bulma and company where sitting in a jail cell.

"Well, this is certainly some adventure," Puar complained. "We could have been arrested back home."

"Look," Krillin said, "it's not that big a deal. Me and Goku can bust us out of here at any time. But Roshi said to give him a chance with the Emperor first. So chill out."

Yamcha, however, didn't seem too confident. He was sweating bullets. This might, however, have been because Bulma had chosen to sit beside him and rest her head on his shoulder.

"All I know is I don't feel safe with these Red Ribbon guys," she said, "they're ruthless. Isn't that right, Blondie?"

"Oh yeah," Launch said. "I'm surprised we're still alive."

"Well, I'm not worried," Goku spoke up. "I trust that the old timer will talk our way out of this. I still need to figure out how to stop these guys from turning everyone into monsters!"

"I hope they don't turn us into monsters," Bulma yawned and snuggled deeper into Yamcha's shoulder. He tried to stifle as yawn as well, before noticing that everyone else was doing the same.

Yamcha jumped up, and Bulma's head hit the ground.

"Guys, I think they're gassing us. We're all falling asleep!"

But it was too late, even Goku's eyes were drooping and soon everyone was out cold.

The door to the cell opened and several men in gasmasks entered. One man wasn't wearing one.

Dr. Gero looked down at Goku and smiled. "Hehe, we meet again, my boy."

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S-Shield's notes

Things are looking pretty grim.

Thanks for reading and please review.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Guards!" General Tao called out, and immediately a swarm of men flooded the room, all pointing their spears at Tien and Roshi.

"General Tao, what is the meaning of this!" Emperor Chaotzu demanded. "Tien is my personal bodyguard!"

"I am so sorry, my lord, but he is a filthy traitor!" Tao assured the young boy. "And he must be dealt with accordingly!"

Roshi's eyes darted around the room, sizing up the soldiers that stood before him. He was reasonably certain that he could dispatch with all of them using minimal force. But Tao was another matter.

Roshi had been concerned about Tao since he first arrived. The man not only had the look of a trained killer, Roshi could also feel the strength of his chi radiating from his body. This man might be a challenge. But looking to his side, Roshi could sense that Tien was no weakling either. Perhaps together they could win this. But there was still the matter of the entire empire working against them.

The situation looked grim.

Tien, however, seemed to be quite amused by the whole thing. He actually cracked a smile before shaking his head, "Oh, Tao. You've overplayed your hand. Guards!"

The soldiers suddenly turned and directed their weapons at Tao.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"I always suspected you, Tao," Tien started. "Frankly, I never liked you. But you were too high-ranking to openly accuse of treason. But when Master Roshi here said that he and his team had followed the Red Ribbon Army to this land, it all made sense. I informed the guards of my discovery before entering. You're trapped!"

"How dare you," Tao spat at the guards. "I am General of the Royal Army, you obey me!"

"No, Tao. The Emperor himself said it. I am his personal bodyguard, as are these men. They are loyal to me!"

Tao sneered.

"Nice work," Roshi clapped his hands.

"You think you are so clever!" Tao ranted. "What do you hope to achieve with a few guards against the might of the entire Red Ribbon Army!?"

"Oh, but it's not just us," Tien smiled. "You've brought the greatest weapon I could have hoped for. Master Roshi and his students."

"Oh, well…" Roshi blushed.

It was now Tao's turn to laugh. "That is your great plan? Why, even as we speak, our scientific genius Dr. Gero is preparing to turn Roshi's prized pupil into the greatest weapon WE could have hoped for, fool!"

"No! Where is Goku!" Roshi barked, all humor drained from the situation.

"In the catacombs under the West Tower, if you think you can afford to leave Tien and the Emperor without your aid!"

"Yep, I trust them," Roshi said as he turned and dove out a window. "Good luck…" his voice echoed up.

The whole assemblage stared for a moment.

Tao took the opportunity to snatch the young emperor up and use him as a shield.

"Tien, help!"

"Tao, you dirty coward!" Tien screamed.

"No, tell your men to lay down their arms!"

"Do as he says!" Tien ordered, and the men obeyed.

Tien glared at Tao with all three eyes. His gaze fell to Chaotzu and softened. "My lord, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to remove yourself from this situation."

"But Tien, you can't ask me to-"

"What? What is this?" Tao demanded, confusion showing all over his face.

"Chaotzu," Tien said, calling the emperor by name, "there is no other way."

The young boy sighed. "Alright."

Suddenly, Chaotzu raised both hands over his head, palms directed at Tao. A massive invisible force struck the general in the face, knocking his head back, and causing him to drop the boy.

Chaotzu ran behind Tien for protection. "I was so scared."

"You did great, sire. Now let me finish this!"

Tien rushed Tao, who quickly recovered his feet and leapt backwards. The pair traded blows. Tien had youth and anger on his side, but Tao had the experience of age, added to the fact that he was a cold-blooded killer.

The fight proceeded at speeds almost too quick for the eye to catch.

Finally pushed into a corner, Tao had no choice but to use his finishing move.

Raising one finger, he shouted "Dodon-PA!" and let loose with a small beam of energy, directed at Tien. Tien, didn't move, but instead opened his third eye as wide as it would go and screamed.

The energy blast dissipated before it even reached Tien.

"There is a reason I am the emperor's personal bodyguard, because my third eye can see and deflect any hidden attacks!"

Then, Tien suddenly seemed to vanish! He reappeared behind Tao and delivered a quick chop to the back of his opponent's head, knocking him out.

Tien lifted Tao's limp body into the air and prepared to strike the killing blow.

"Stop!" Chaotzu ordered.

"But, my lord?" Tien questioned.

"No, Tien, please don't become a killer like him."

The bodyguard struggled, but finally released his foe. Chaotzu ran to Tien, "We have to help Roshi and his friends."

"We will, my lord. But first, guards, place this man in a jail cell!"

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Deep in the laboratory of Dr. Gero, the mad old scientist studied his sleeping subject.

"Soon, we shall have the perfect warrior."

"Yes," Commander Red rolled over to him. "And with the Dragonballs at our command, nothing shall stop us from taking this world!"

The pair laughed with their horrible robotic voices.

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S-Shield's notes

Tien rocks. Simple as that. Thanks for reading.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Commander Red, leader of the Red Ribbon Army, hovered beside the unconscious body of young Goku, which lay atop the examining table, hooked up to wires and machines the purpose of which Red knew all too well.

They resembled the apparatus he currently found himself entombed within, an egg-shaped floating "wheel-chair" that monitored his vital signs and staved off death for another day. But that was to change, and soon.

"Ever since the demons crippled me," Red said aloud to Dr. Gero, who was in the process of connecting Red's life-support system with Goku's, "I have dreamed of the day I would walk, free and without the aid of your infernal devices."

"Now, now," Gero smiled cruelly, "it was my devices that stole you from death's side. My devices that keep you alive and soon my devices, as you so lovingly call them, will grant you your heart's desire," he motioned to Goku. "A body, ripe with power and strength the likes of which the human race has never seen."

Red continued to gaze at Goku's form, his future home. "It is true; this boy has done the unthinkable on more than one occasion. And yet he is still just a boy. Imagine what power he will wield as a grown man! Yes, this is much preferable to one of your cold mechanical bodies, Gero."

"Perhaps, sir. But my form will never age, never wither away. You have only a few promising decades within your chosen body. I will have eternity in mine."

"Bah, decades are all I'll need. I shall use his strength and my wealth to conquer the world," Red smiled as best he could.

"Yes, sir. But what of the Dragonballs?" Gero commented, "Tell me sir; why not simply use the power of the balls to grant yourself a perfect form? We have them all now."

Red chuckled. "Because I know a secret about the Dragonballs."

"What is that?" Gero raised an eyebrow.

"The next time they are used," Red looked Gero in the eye, "will be their last."

Gero gazed at his employer. "What do you mean?"

"Bah, enough talk!" Red suddenly roared. "It is time for my evolution! Begin the procedure!"

Gero regarded Red a moment longer. What did he know about the Dragonballs that no one else did? Turning back to his controls, Gero began draining the electricity needed to operate his machines at full power.

"It was so kind of the Crane Dynasty to supply us with all the tools and energy needed to perform this task," Gero smiled, "even if they didn't know it."

"That is true, Tao has served his purposes beautifully," Red agreed.

The computers came alive and began humming with life. The idea was simple; Red's mind would be removed from its broken husk of a body and placed within the young body of Goku, a body powerful enough to defeat even the King of Demons, who had decimated the Red Ribbon Army as sure as he had their leader.

"Hahaha," Red roared with laughter. "Freedom! Blessed freedom!"

Gero looked at the readings from the machines and suddenly gasped. "It's impossible!"

"What is it? What's wrong?" Red demanded.

"His synapses are firing at an alarming rate. The machine can't keep up with it! This exceeds even my calculations!" Gero looked a Goku, whose eyes were struggling to open themselves. "He isn't human!"

At that, sparks began flying from Gero's machines and Red's life-pod!

Goku's eyes snapped open. He shattered his restraints and bounded off the table, pulling all the cords loose with him.

"What's going on!?" he screamed before spotting Gero. "You!"

The sparks continued to fly as Red's pod suffered a melt-down. His life-signs were fading fast.

"What are you!?" Gero screeched.

Goku glared at him, "I'm Son Goku!"

Pulling his staff free, Goku flew at the mad scientist, intent on finishing this fight for good.

Unfortunately, Gero was prepared. He managed to dodge the attack and hit Goku in his blind spot.

"You may be a monster, boy. I've already fought you once," he said, tapping his forehead, "and I never forget anything!"

"I am not a monster!" Goku raged as he attacked again. But this time, another person dropped in from nowhere and blocked Goku's path.

A fat man with ivory white skin smiled and said, in a voice that sounded like a synthesizer, "You must fight me!" He rushed Goku, and the force of his attack carried them both through a wall and into the hallway outside.

"Gero," Red whispered. "Gero, I'm fading!"

The doctor leapt to his master's side. "Sir, there is only one option. The Suit!"

"No," Red coughed. "I told you, I will not live as a machine!"

"But you will die otherwise," Gero pleaded, lifting Red's broken pod with his enhanced strength and carrying it outside. "This is for the best."

"Noooo!" Red moaned as he was transported to a fate he feared would be worse than death.

Outside, Goku battled Gero's assistant, who giggled like an idiot the whole time. "Hehehehe, I know all your moves," he chided.

"Oh yeah?" Goku asked. "How about this one?" Goku punched at the android's face, which instantly caught him by the wrist only a few inches shy of his mark.

"I can see through your every move!"

Goku then flung out two fingers, jamming them into the creature's eyes, shattering their glass form. "You can't see through what you can't see!"

"You fool! You damaged my sensors!"

"Yeah, and that ain't all!" Goku yelled as he tackled the fat android, sending his body flailing several feet.

As the mechanical man writhed on the floor, Goku turned to walk away. "Don't ever hurt anyone again," he said as he headed back to the lab.

His opponent growled and lifted his hand, which began to crackle with electricity. Suddenly the whole hallway was flooded with energy, and Goku was caught in the painful shock.

"Hehehe, if I can't see you, I'll just shoot everywhere!"

Goku's skin sizzled as he gasped for air. The android fired again. There was nowhere Goku could go to avoid the assault.

"You jerk," he said. "I tried to spare your life. But that wasn't good enough! That does it!"

Goku flew at the android, which fired another blast. But this time, Goku dove directly into the line of fire, just to get close enough to his opponent to strike!

Goku punched right through the android's chest. The creature's synthesized voice rose higher and higher until the pitch was unbearable. Finally, the mechanical man exploded with a force that sent Goku sprawling to the other end of the hallway.

Goku lay there on the floor, his skin sizzling and his eyes rolled back in his head. He did not get up.

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S-Shield's notes

Lots of action and lots of Goku. Can't beat that.

Thanks for reading.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Master Yamcha, please wake up!"

Yamcha's eyes opened to the sight of his companion Puar, staring down at him with tears in his eyes.

"What happened?" Yamcha said, rubbing his head. Suddenly, everything came back to him. The boy, the girl, the magic balls, the evil army. Yamcha closed his eyes again and wanted to go back to sleep.

"Sir, we're trapped in here, and they've taken Goku and our Dragonballs!"

Yamcha finally sat up and looked around the jail cell. Besides himself and Puar, it contained Krillin, Bulma and Launch. "Why is she dark-haired, now?" he asked as the girl stared sweetly at him.

"Don't ask," Krillin rolled his eyes. "Just call her Lunch now."

Yamcha blushed at the thought. He stood and cracked his back. "What's going on? One minute they're keeping us here for security, and the next they drug us and steal our treasure?"

"And Goku," Bulma reminded him.

"And abduct our companion? No, this is not right. It's time we left here," Yamcha declared.

"And how do we do that?" Krillin asked.

"I'm a thief, remember," Yamcha smiled. "I know my way around a cell door. I'll have us out in a moment."

Yamcha removed a small tool-kit from a secret pouch in his tunic, and he and Puar set to work on the door.

While they picked the locks, Bulma turned to Lunch. "So seriously, what's your deal?"

"What do you mean?" she asked blankly.

Krillin was forced to explain how he and Roshi had met Lunch and her mysterious habit of changing her personality with her hair color. "I've never even heard of anything like that," Bulma said. "Sounds to me like a mutation."

"You think she was an experiment by Dr. Gero?" Krillin suggested.

"Doubt it," Bulma said. "He's mainly stuck to the field of robotics and cybernetics. This isn't his style."

"Got it!" Yamcha cheered as the door swung open. "Let's get going."

"Just so you know, that was extremely hot," Bulma said as she moved past him. Yamcha suddenly forgot how to swallow.

The group made their way down the hall. "We've got to find Goku and Roshi," Krillin said, "before anything bad happens to them."

"And we've got to find the Dragonballs before anything bad happens to the world," Bulma finished. "We need to get our bearings; we have no idea where we are going." She pulled her dragon radar from its case and activated it. "Okay, all seven balls are being kept to the east of us. I wonder why they haven't used them yet. That's strange."

"Well, whatever the deal is, let's head that way," Krillin said.

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The woman turned her back to her prey and examined the row of monitors. "Well, now," she purred, "it looks like you are about to have some company, my friend."

Her captive look up at the screens and saw a group of people running in their direction.

"I suppose I should go say hello," she smiled.

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"So they're on the other side of this door?" Krillin asked.

"According to the radar, yes," Bulma answered. She turned to Yamcha "Any chance you can get this one open, too?"

"Umm, well no, see, this is a really strong looking vault," he stammered.

"If you people want in so badly, all you had to do was ask," came a woman's voice from behind them. They all turned to see a tall woman with black hair and a cruel smile. "Welcome to my house."

"Mai!" Lunch smiled and waved at her, "it's me! Over here!"

"Lunch?" Mai asked. "Well, I'd heard you defected."

"Yeah, these guys are really nice. Um, could you please open this door for us so we can get to the Dragonballs?"

Mai rolled her eyes. Clearly this wasn't her first encounter with Lunch. She simply pulled a remote control from her jacket and pushed a button. All of a sudden, the floor fell out from under everyone, and they landed hard in a room filled with monitors.

"Who are you?" Bulma asked of Mai as she descended a flight of stairs to join them.

"I'm Head of Security for the Red Ribbon Army," she smiled. "And I'm afraid I'll have to deal with you accordingly."

"Oh, great," Krillin moaned, looking back at everyone. "Let's see, Bulma can't fight, Lunch isn't a psycho at the moment, Puar's a cat and Yamcha is scared of women. Hmm, I wonder who's going to have to fight you?" he said sarcastically. "I can't believe I get stuck fighting the woman. If I beat you up I look bad, and if I lose, I look bad."

"Well, you're in luck," Mai said, "because I've got just the fellow for you." Out from behind a metal door emerged a giant killer robot. "Meet my deputy!"

"Jeez, that guy's huge!" Krillin said. "You can fight this, right?" he asked Yamcha.

"Definitely," the other man smiled, and they both jumped at their opponent.

Meanwhile, Bulma was examining the array of equipment and monitors, hoping to find something that she could use to their benefit. "Lunch, does any of this make sense to you?" she asked.

"Sure, I used to work for these guys, remember?"

"Yeah," Bulma sighed. "Is there anything here that could help us fight this robot? Do you have, like, a self-destruct code for it?"

"Um, no…" she puzzled at the question.

The sound of gunfire announced that the robot had now opened fire on Yamcha and Krillin. The pair danced around the room, trying to dodge the assault.

"Man, this thing is tough," Bulma groaned, "what are we going to do?"

"I know," Lunch spoke up, "let's cut off the power!"

"You think that things plugged in the power grid?" Bulma asked.

"I dunno, maybe!" Lunch smiled hopefully.

"Fine, go ahead and try."

The robot had now moved up to small missiles. Mai looked on, actually concerned about the fighting prowess of her captives. She hated it when they fought back. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Lunch typing at her console. "Hey, get away from there!"

Before she could move, all the lights went out and the screens went dead.

"Yes, we cut the power!" Lunch cheered.

"But the robot is still moving!!" Krillin screamed in panic. "And now we can't see it!"

"Hahaha," Mai laughed. "Fools!"

Just then, a large explosion rocked the entire complex, as a massive burst of energy flew through the room and destroyed the security-bot in a hot blaze of fire.

The shape of a man emerged from an adjoining room. "They cut the power to the lights, but they also cut the power to the holding cell. Without your machines, you have no chance of keeping me here!" he growled.

The man raised his arm and fired another shot of energy at the robot, reducing it to scraps and knocking Mai unconscious.

"Who the hell is that?" Yamcha wondered aloud. But to Krillin and Bulma, the voice sounded all too familiar.

The emergency power finally kicked back in, and the lights returned. Their savior stood fully revealed.

"Oh my god," Bulma breathed, "it's Piccolo!"

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S-Shield's notes

The demon prince returns!

Thanks for reading.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Piccolo!" Bulma cried. "What are you doing here?"

The young demon ignored her questions and slowly walked through the control room, making his way to where Mai lay helplessly on the floor. He regarded her for a moment, before lifting his hand and charging it with fire.

"Whoa! Wait!" Bulma screamed as she ran to his side. "Stop, you can't kill her, she's unconscious!"

Piccolo scowled at her. "The Red Ribbon Army beat me within an inch of my life. They abducted me, and this woman was my captor. I must regain my honor!"

"Well, you won't find it by killing a helpless woman!" Bulma tried to reason with him. "Piccolo, you are thinking like your father, the Demon King. Please, put your anger aside. Don't do this."

Piccolo stood there, like an emerald statue. Slowly, he lowered his hand and turned his face from Bulma's stare.

Krillin stepped forward, trying to ease the tension. "Why did they keep you alive?"

"Isn't it obvious" Piccolo snapped. "You were there that day. You heard what the Dragon said. If I die, the Dragonballs vanish. And the Red Ribbon has plans for the Dragonballs."

"What did they tell you," Bulma asked.

Piccolo almost chuckled. "It seems Red and I have the same goal. He also wants to find my ancestor, the one who originally forged the Dragonballs. Red believes this man sits atop an even greater power than the Dragonballs. He intends to use the balls to find their creator. Then he would have used me as a bargaining chip. If the creator refused to yield to Red's ambitions, he would have killed me, and thus ended the creator's life, no matter how powerful he is, for we are connected in such a way."

There was silence for a moment.

"But then-" Bulma tried to ask, but suddenly Piccolo quietly rose off the ground and up through the trap door they had all fallen through earlier.

The group ran up the stairs to meet him. Piccolo lifted his hand once again and this time fired at the vault door. The explosion rocked the whole complex, but when the dust settled, Bulma could clearly see all seven Dragonballs on the other side.

Piccolo turned to them, "Take these and go. I trust you will put them to good use. I must find Goku, for he shall need my aid shortly." And with that, Piccolo seemed to vanish into thin air. Krillin's skilled eyes, however, could see that he had simply moved so fast as to fool normal eyes.

"Wow, he's gotten even faster," he whistled.

"Yeah, and stronger" Bulma said, pointing at the devestation all around them.

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While Goku slept, he felt as if he were drifting on the tides. Various thoughts and feelings presented themselves before him, but he didn't care to pay them any attention.

Suddenly, he was aware of a warm sensation, spreading throughout his entire being. A voice called him back to the world of the living.

Goku opened his eyes and looked around him. He was still in the hallway where he had fought that strange guy with the weird voice. A robot, right? He could still see it's broken shell a few feet away.

His eyes adjusted and he noticed Roshi and Tien standing over him, and a small child was kneeling beside him, holding his hand.

"Hi, my name's Goku," he smiled.

"There, Tien," the boy said. "I've healed him like you asked."

"Good work, Emperor," Tien smiled.

"Goku! Thank goodness you are alright!" Roshi sighed. "You had me worried sick!"

"Heh, sorry old timer," Goku laughed. "Wait a minute! Those guys. The one with the robots and the other in the wheelchair. Where did they go!?"

"What? Gero was here?" Roshi started.

"This must be his lab," Tien remarked as he look through the hole in the wall created by Goku's fight. "There's a set of stairs on the other side."

"That must be it!" Goku cried, jumping to his feet. "We've got to stop them!"

Tien smiled. "Sounds good. Let's chase these rats out of the Crane Dynasty!"

"After you, my boy," Roshi gleamed as he opened the way to Goku.

Goku looked at his strong companions and smiled wickedly. "Yeah, let's go!"

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Red was only barely aware of what was happening to him. Gero had placed him in yet another machine. Larger, this time, but still cold and metallic.

"Do not worry, Commander!" Gero assured him through the intercom. "We will have our revenge. I have turned you into the greatest killing machine on Earth!"

Red moaned as new instructions and directives were downloaded directly into his brain. Slowly eating away at his personality and memories, until nothing remained but his own sense of hate.

The mechanical giant stirred. It's joints and gears coming alive as it's artificial nervous system came online. The giant now had a brain, and it's brain was telling it to kill!

"Yes," Gero purred. "Our enemies shall feel the wrath of the Red Ribbon Army!"

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S-Shield's notes

Everything is coming together. Thanks for reading, and please review.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Goku, Tien and Roshi ran down the stairs which led deeper into Gero's chamber of horrors. Goku looked over his shoulder and saw the young emperor Chaotzu bringing up the rear, actually floating through the air under his own power.

"How do you do that?" Goku asked.

"Chaotzu is the emperor of the Crane Dynasty," Tien said with pride. "All the members of his family are born with specials gifts bestowed upon them by the gods."

"I'd like to learn how to fly," Goku said.

Tien frowned, "The abilities of the Royal Family, such as rising in the air and healing others, are unique to them, and cannot be learned by just anyone."

"Huh," Goku shrugged. "The Demon King could fly," he pointed out.

"Where do you think he learned it?" Roshi smiled.

Without warning, the ground beneath their feet suddenly began to tremble.

"An earthquake?" Tien reasoned.

"No," Goku said, "something worse."

There was a horrible sound as the walls and ceiling surrounding them quickly vanished, as if swept away by a giant hand. And that was precisely what had happened!

Pulling themselves out of the rubble, the fighters looked up to see an enormous shape draped in shadows thanks to the setting sun. It was some kind of giant robot, standing on the mountain-side. It almost looked comical with it's pot-belly. But the speed with which it struck was no laughing matter.

All four men leapt for their lives as a monstrous mechanical hand came down and flattened the area around them. Roshi darted his eyes over to find Tien carrying his lord's small body away from the battle. But he could not find Goku!

"Goku? GOKU!" he screamed. Surely the boy was too quick to have been hit by this beast. But where was he?

Roshi caught movement out the corner of his eye, and he saw Goku running up the arm of robot, approaching the head. But, almost faster than Roshi's eye could catch, the behemoth's other hand easily brushed Goku off as a man would a bug.

Drawing both his arms to his side, the old man shouted "Kamehame-HA!" and fired a concentrated burst of power at their opponent's feet, which connected with a huge clap of thunder. The robot stumbled for a moment, but quickly recovered. It aimed its palm at Roshi and shot a missile at him. Roshi dodged, but the missile struck part of the city below, resulting in the destruction of a few buildings.

"Damn it!" Tien screamed as he rejoined the fight, leaping into the air! Forming a triangle with his fingers he shouted "Kikoho!" and unleashed a punishing torrent of power that blew the robot onto its back and halted its movements for a moment.

"What is this thing?" Roshi asked as he ran to Tien, who was kneeling in the dirt, trying desperately to catch his breath.

"I- I don't know," he coughed. "It must be the Red Ribbon's secret weapon!"

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, but that move, the Kikoho, or Energy Cannon, I can only do it once a battle, for it drains my very life essence."

Roshi looked over at the immobile machine. "Well, I think you put it to good use."

"Don't be so sure!" Dr. Gero called down to them from his spot atop the tower. "I built this armor to withstand more than that! And with Commander Red's mind and soul directing it, you have no chance!"

"Commander Red is PILOTING that thing!?" Roshi shouted, dumbstruck.

"No, not just a pilot, Commander Red IS the machine. His very mind acts as the central processor. Heh, despite all my best efforts, I've yet to create a computer that could match the human brain," he smiled as he lifted up his hat, showing his still living brain encased within a metal and plastic skull.

"You're a monster!" Tien cried out. "What kind of person would choose to live that way?"

"It's the future, boy! You can't fight progress, metal is stronger than flesh. And one day the sure hand of science will overcome the clumsy grasp of nature. It is inevitable!"

As if on cue, the Robot rose from the ground once again. But this time, it turned and aimed its weapons at the city itself.

"No!" Roshi and Tien screamed. "Not the people!"

The robot fired, intent on unleashing a devastating hell on the unsuspecting people below. But out of nowhere, a beam of energy ripped forward, creating a wall that detonated every explosive and munition before it could get near the city.

Roshi and Tien looked over and saw a panting and damaged, but still alive, Goku, halting the assault with his own Kamehameha!

His blast expended, Goku stood there, arms still extended. "You will not hurt anyone else!" he screamed.

The Robot regarded Goku for a moment. As they stared at each other, the robot's belly opened, and out dropped a rather large orb, which crashed to the ground.

Gero leaped from his perch and landed on top of the robot as it too then leaped high into the sky. Unfortunately, Roshi only realized the purpose of the device at the last minute.

It was a bomb.

Goku was far enough away from ground zero to simply be blown back and down the mountain. He was hurt, and could barely move. But he didn't know what had happened to Roshi and Tien. When he looked back up, the robot was descending at a fantastic speed. It landed just beside him, and Gero called down. "Once again, you've underestimated us!"

The Robot raised it's giant hand as if to finally crush Goku for good.

A wicked bolt of lightning tore through the sky and struck the behemoth, the blast actually separating its arm from its shoulder! Goku followed the path of the blast with his eyes as it led him to his savior.

"Piccolo!"

The demon dropped out of the sky and landed beside the boy. "You are a mess, Goku."

"Heh, I know. But that thing keeps cheating, using bombs and stuff. I think it killed my friends!"

"No, it did not. I flew in and snatched them both up before the bomb went off."

"Wow," Goku smiled, "you really are a good guy!"

"Silence, fool!" Piccolo sneered.

"Goku!" Roshi and Tien ran over to them. "Nice shooting, kid!" Roshi winked at Piccolo. "You took its arm off."

"Yes, but it still has one more!" Tien said as the robot trashed around, causing still more damage. "How can we stop it for real?"

"There's a guy inside that thing, right?" Goku asked.

"Yeah, that's what Gero said," Roshi answered.

"Then all I need to do is get him out of there!" Goku reasoned.

"You can barely move," Tien pointed out.

"But I've got an idea," Goku smiled wickedly. "Piccolo, I need you to fly me up into the sky!"

"What!?"

"Just trust me. You two, keep him distracted!"

The three looked at each other in bewilderment. Finally Roshi said, "You heard him, let's get to work!"

Roshi ran at the robot, followed a minute later by Tien.

"What is your plan?" Piccolo asked.

"Don't ask, just take me up!"

Piccolo grunted a few obscenities and finally picked the boy up and hauled him high into the sky. "Is this high enough?"

"Yeah, this is great! Now throw me at the robot!"

Piccolo growled and reared Goku back, pitching him down at the ground like a baseball.

As Goku plummeted, he brought his hands to his side and charged up a Kamehameha blast. But inside of shooting it at the robot, Goku brought the ball of energy up to his mouth and swallowed it!

"What the hell!?" Piccolo cried.

Suddenly, Goku's whole body exploded in blue flame. As he sailed down to the Earth, he resembled a blue shooting star, or a bullet, aimed directly at the Robot's head!

Gero spotted the on-coming assault. "Move, you fool!"

The robot dove out of Goku's path.

"Not good enough!" Goku yelled at the robot and suddenly, with an extra burst of power, Goku changed course and redirected himself at the beast.

"He can fly!" Tien shouted. "After seeing the Emperor do it ONCE, he figured out how to fly!? And in the middle of battle!?"

"Heh," Roshi smiled. "My little idiot is a genius!"

"NOOOO!" Gero roared as Goku shot through the robot like a speeding bullet, bursting out the other side carrying Commander Red's crippled form, along with the command console!

The pair almost crash-landed, but Goku used the force of the fire to slow their fall and skid to a stop. "Alright, it worked!"

The Robot stood motionless, completely brain-dead in the middle of the street.

"Woo-whooo!" Roshi and Tien screamed. "That boy is amazing!"

Piccolo landed a few feet away and shook his head. But then he smirked a little bit. "That crazy fool."

"You think you have won!?" Gero screeched, drawing everyone's attention. "You will all burn!"

Suddenly, the robot jerked, and its upper torso exposed itself. Within was an even larger bomb than the first one!

"This whole city will die for your arrogance! If you even touch the robot now, the bomb will go off!"

Goku couldn't move, Tien and Roshi were wiped out and Piccolo was too far away. There was nothing they could do.

A clap of thunder resounded as the sky turned even blacker. A bit of light sparked a few yards away and shot up into the sky. A towering inferno of golden energy erupted and coalesced into the form of the Eternal Dragon!

Bulma, Krillin, Lunch, Yamcha and Puar stood beneath the dragon they had summoned.

"REFLECT UPON YOUR DESIRES MORTALS, FOR I-"

"Yes, we know all that," Bulma screamed up at it, "But we don't have time, send that freaking bomb into space or something!"

The Dragon looked over and its eyes actually widened with shock before beginning to glow red.

The Robot started to shimmer with mystical energy before finally disappearing. Up in the sky, there was a quick flash of light, and a small pop.

"Whew," Bulma said, dropping to her knees from exhaustion. "That was a close one!"

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S-Shield's notes

A long one, huh? I feel just like Bulma. I bet you do too. Thanks for reading, and this is not the end.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Chaotzu rolled his eyes as he finished healing Goku for the second time that day. "You sure do get hurt a lot."

"Yep," Goku smiled. "But it all worked out in the end." He looked up at all his friends, alive and well. "That was fun."

"So what do we do about him?" Bulma asked, pointing over at Commander Red, who lay on the ground, barely kept alive by what remained of his life-support system.

Goku stood up and wobbled a bit, still a little light-headed from the fight. He walked over to where the despot struggled to breath, writhing in bitter agony.

Goku looked back at Chaotzu, "You can heal someone even as messed up as him, right?"

"What are you talking about!?" Tien roared. "That man is a rotten criminal who used our kingdom and tried to kill every one of us! He deserves his fate!"

Goku looked at Tien for a moment, considering his words, but when he looked back at Red's pitiful form, he knew. "I'm sorry, but even someone like him doesn't deserve this. Please help him," he asked of the little emperor.

Chaotzu glanced up a Tien for approval. The man scowled for a moment and bit his lip, but then nodded silently.

Everyone gathered around as Chaotzu laid his hands on Red's broken body. Gentle light slowly pour out in waves from the boy's hands, soothing Red's pain. His scars evaporated, his muscles regrew, his skin regained a healthy color. Miraculously, in just a few minutes, Commander Red had been restored to perfect health, snatched from the jaws of death.

Red opened his eyes, and they soon widened in disbelief at his new form. He sat up, tears in his eyes. "I'm healed? I'm healed! Oh, thank you god, I'm-"

His next word was interrupted by a quick flash of fire that shot past Chaotzu's head and stuck Red square in the chest. He was quickly consumed in the hell-fire, screaming in agony the whole time. All that remained a moment later was a charred corpse.

Everyone looked back at Piccolo, who stood with his arm still extended and pulsing with energy.

"Piccolo!" Goku screamed. "How could you!?"

Piccolo calmly lowered his hand and answered "He DID deserve his fate, but this was even better. To allow him to believe for a moment that his dreams had come true, before ending his life. That was pure joy!"

"Damn it, Piccolo!" Goku raged, taking a fighting stance.

"You would attack me now, boy?" the demon asked. "After fighting as comrades a moment ago? Fine, I always knew that someday I would have to take your life before I could take this world! Let's have it!"

Bulma and Lunch stepped back, trying to get out of the way. Roshi, Krillin, Tien and Yamcha all stepped up behind Goku, offering their support. Chaotzu and Puar tried to hide behind one another.

"EXCUSE ME!" the voice of the Eternal Dragon roared.

The sudden shock at realizing that the Dragon was still there was enough to diffuse the tension for a moment.

"I AM AFRAID I MUST SAY FAREWELL TO YOU ALL... FOREVER!"

"What?" Goku shouted. "What are you talking about?"

Without answering, the Dragon simply faded away. The Dragonballs themselves then rose into the sky, but instead of dispersing, they hung in the air for a moment and began to change. They were drained of all color, turning into clear glass orbs. Suddenly, they each shattered into a million pieces!

"The Dragonballs!" Bulma cried. "They're gone!"

The glittering sparkles of dust floated through the air for a moment, aloft in the breeze.

"But why-?" Goku started.

Just then, the dazzling mist began to swirl around them all, focusing on one individual. Piccolo. He was surrounded by the light and in a sudden flash, disappeared! Replaced by a single glowing orb, which began to rise into the sky.

"Piccolo!" Goku called out as he jumped into the air and grabbed at the flying orb. As soon as his hand touched it, the ball of light shot up into the sky, dragging Goku screaming up into the heavens with it.

The rest of the group stood on the ground below, simply staring up.

"I don't think any of us expected that to happen," Krillin said.

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Goku yelled as the mysterious orb drew him higher and higher into the clouds. This was faster and farther than he had ever gone before! He would have been excited if not for the circumstances of the trip.

Goku must have blacked out part-way through, for when he awoke, he found himself lying on polished stone tiles, Piccolo right beside him.

They both stood and looked around. "Where are we?" the boy asked.

"I do not know," Piccolo replied, as he took in the palm trees and small castle-like structure before them.

"Jeez!" Goku squeaked as he looked over the edge of their new environment. Piccolo joined him and saw that they were standing atop a floating palace of some sort, so far up in the sky that all they could see below them was clouds.

"Welcome" a voice spoke. They both turned and saw a man, green-skinned and holding a tall wooden staff. This man looked just like Piccolo, except many years older, with skin like old parchment.

"It seems we have finally found one another other," he smiled.

"Who are you?" Piccolo growled.

"I am called Kami-Sama, I am the keeper of this place, a Sanctuary, or Lookout if you will, from which I can observe the whole of our world. And protect it from all harm."

"Wow," Goku breathed, clearly impressed. "But wait," he suddenly realized, "then where have you been lately? Because it seems like we've been doing a lot of the work ourselves."

Kami cleared his throat and pretended not to hear the question. "I summoned you here, Piccolo, because I had hoped you might have overcome your father's wicked influence and perhaps be fit to succeed me as keeper of this realm. But your recent actions have proven to me that that is just not possible. Your heart is still too full of bitter rage and darkness."

"Who the hell says I want your job!?" Piccolo roared, stepping forward menacingly. "I merely wished to find the source of my line, and discover whatever connection it is that binds our fates. My goal is now as it has ever been, to rule over this world and all its inhabitants." Piccolo eyed the old man for a moment, "Would you try to stop me? You, of the Demon Clan?!"

Kami sighed. "We are not demons, my boy. We are survivors, perhaps the very last of our line. This world has afforded us safe harbor, and I seek only to repay its kindnesses. Is there nothing I can do to convince you to change your path? Not even if I revealed to you the secret of our heritage?"

Piccolo glared at the older reflection of himself. And then he smiled cruelly. "You claim to see the whole of this world, and yet you dare speak to me of its kindness? Speak to me of the spectacle of war, of the endless blood-letting. These weak creatures know nothing but how to bring pain, they are the true demons!"

"You know this to be untrue," Kami said calmly. "I thought once as you did, and it led to the creation of the Demon King. I live here now as penance for that act. I created the Dragonballs to give humanity, the best and most courageous of them, the chance to change their lives and their world for the better. Twice now you have seen the Dragonballs used for good purposes by the humans. Your friends."

"My friends!" Piccolo roared. "These people are not my friends," he pointed at Goku, "they are simply the most useful insects I have found."

"If that were true, you would not have aided them, nor would you have trusted them with the power of Dragonballs, not once, but twice."

"Go to hell, old man!" Piccolo spat. "I sought you out for knowledge, and now I have it. You are useless! Never call me again, or I shall end your life, no matter that I might end my own!

"And you!" he shouted at Goku, "next we meet, boy, rest assured I will break you, and turn your precious planet to suit my ends!" And with that, Piccolo turned and dove off the edge of the Lookout, plummeting to the ground below.

"I was afraid of that," Kami looked away.

"Wait a minute, Mr. Guardian sir," Goku spoke up, "what was that all about?"

"Piccolo there is a member of my kin, the Dragon Clan. The last of my family line. He is powerful, and I had hoped your influence, and that of your friends had changed him. But he is still his father's son. The time is not yet right."

"Well, you can't give up on him now!" Goku argued. "He saved my friends earlier today, so clearly he doesn't just hate everyone. So there has to be some good in him. He was just really mad at that Red Ribbon guy for torturing him."

Kami regarded Goku. "You have unwavering faith in others, do you not?" he smiled. "Perhaps you are right. But I am afraid Piccolo must go even further through the dark forest if he is to ever find the light."

"Yeah," Goku shook his head.

"Why don't you stay up here with me, Goku? I will train you, make you stronger, so that one day when you are forced to face Piccolo in combat again, you can defeat him, and force him to see the error of ways."

"Really!?" Goku shouted. "That's great. I love getting stronger!"

"But I must have a pledge from you. My training is tough, and you must swear to abide in this place for the next three years."

"Three years?" Goku pondered, staring over the edge of the Lookout. "But, I really wanted to see more of the Earth. There are so many places I haven't been to yet. And my friends?"

"I am afraid, dear boy, that if you do not accept my offer, there might not be a planet Earth for long."

Goku sighed and turned to Kami. "Okay," he said, "but under one condition."

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Roshi, Bulma and company still meandered about the ruins of the Crane Dynasty.

"Where could they have gone?" Krillin wondered aloud for the fifth time.

"I wish I knew," said Roshi.

"There's still no reading on the Dragon Radar," Bulma said, constantly clicking the button on the device. "They just vanished."

Yamcha came over and put his arm around her. "I'm sure he'll be alright. Goku's a pretty great kid."

Bulma looked up at him and suddenly kissed Yamcha on the mouth.

Puar laughed.

Tien and Chaotzu stood to one side, gazing over their devastated city. "I suppose we were lucky to only lose this much," Tien was saying. "Without Goku, it could have been much worse."

"We still don't know who we can trust," Chaotzu said. "Anyone could be a member of the Red Ribbon."

Lunch walked over, "Well, I can tell you who all our agents are in this area. And look at it this way, the Red Ribbon had a ton of technology that you can use to strengthen your city's defense."

Roshi stood beside Krillin and gazed up into the night sky with him. "This kind of stuff always happens to him, doesn't it?" Krillin said.

"Seems that way."

Roshi looked down at Red's corpse, which they had covered with a sheet. "That Goku, heart as pure as the driven snow. Trying to save the enemy."

"Where did Gero get to?" Krillin asked.

"Tien said his men would track him down."

There was a sound, like distant thunder. Everyone stood up and gathered together. Clouds suddenly appeared, blackening out the stars. Bulma's radar suddenly came alive in her hand.

"Is this what I think it is?" Krillin asked.

From out of the sky, the Eternal Dragon burst though the clouds, down towards the city. And on top of the Dragon's head, perched between it's horns, stood Goku!

"Goku's riding the Dragon!"

The pair sailed past Goku's friends and began circling the city, magically restoring all the damage caused by the fight. There was movement under Red's sheet as he poked his head out from under it. He was alive!

The Dragon turned its head toward everyone and Goku called out, "Hey guys! We're going to go clean up all the other messes caused by these Red Ribbon jerks, and then I'm going to go up and train in heaven with God or someone! Take care, see you all later!"

The Dragon turned and rose higher into the sky, before heading West.

"Did he say training in Heaven?" Tien asked.

"I wouldn't be a bit surprised," Roshi gleamed.

Everyone waved goodbye as Goku and the Dragon sailed off together.

"IT SEEMS THE MORTAL WORLD IS FILLED WITH GREAT GOOD AS WELL AS EVIL," the Dragon observed.

"Yep," Goku answered. "But that's the beauty of it all. Even the bad guys can become good. I'm not ready to give up on Piccolo yet. I still believe in him!"

"VERY GOOD," the Dragon said. "NOW, WHY NOT SHOW ME MORE OF YOUR WORLD?"

"Okay," Goku called out over the rush of wind, "Let's GO!"

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S-Shield's notes

Finally finished. I think that sets up everything nicely and puts everyone where they need to be. I really hope you enjoyed reading. I'll probably write an afterword or something tomorrow, explaining my thoughts or whatever.

But for right now I just want to say thanks for reading, especially those who've read the whole thing, including my first "movie." Thank you all so much and please review.

I can't believe I finished another one.


	18. Notes

**Afterword**

Okay, so it's been awhile. First off, thanks of reading.

I pretty much said everything I wanted to say about my DB movies experiment in the notes to each chapter, especially the first and last ones of both stories.

Someone asked me the other day if I intended on continuing this series, and the simple answer is no.

Basically, my goal was to introduce everyone from DBZ in these short stories, and now that I have, I think you could move onto a straight adaption of the various story arcs.

Personally, I would finish off the DB "trilogy" with the 23rd Tournament, from the end of DB. There you have the last Goku vs Piccolo fight, Goku marries Chichi, and all is well.

Then I would begin with a DBZ trilogy. My main thinking is to have Movie 1 be the Saiyan saga, Movie 2 be the Namek saga ending with Goku's arrival on Namek, and Movie 3 be the fight with Freeza and the left over ending.

I think that's the best way to go, myself. Because I think most people remember the Namek and Freeza sagas best, and those three arcs really build to something great. Also, Goku ends the Freeza saga having defeated the strongest bad guy in the universe. After that, he's really got nothing to prove story-wise. They just keep going around in circles after that.

Now I'm not saying they couldn't do the Cell and Buu sagas justice, but that's really getting up there, and those two stories do tend to repeat earlier ones. The Buu saga and the Piccolo saga are pretty similar if you look at them.

So like I said, I'm done with the DB movies. After this, you could just pick up the manga at around DB volume 13 (?) and I think not miss a beat.

Anyway, thanks again to everyone who read and enjoyed these stories. And please don't be shy, let me know how you think they should do the DBZ movies.


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